


Jolene

by AppleScruff



Category: Jonas Brothers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2020-09-23 12:17:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20339992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleScruff/pseuds/AppleScruff
Summary: Danielle Jonas had always believed herself to be in a happy marriage, but when his husband Kevin Jonas suddenly says someone else’s name in his sleep and he denies he does so when he’s awake she begins to doubt this. However, when the private detective she has hired doesn’t come up with anything and she suddenly begins to see a red-haired girl appear and disappear out of nowhere she begins to doubt her sanity.Based on Jolene by Dolly Parton





	1. Prologue

The two kids are running in a field. The grass is bright green and still wet with the morning dew. The two children don’t appear to feel the wetness on the soles of their bare feet, too wrapped up in the game they’re playing. The early spring is making it impossible for them to sit still.   
  
The girl is running after the boy, her red hair a toy for the warm spring wind to play with. Her cheeks are a bright red and there’s a smile of pure delight on her lips.   
  
“Hey, wait for me!“ the little girl shouts to the boy running in front of her. The boy is so much older than her, that’s why he’s able to run so fast. He’s already four and half while she’s only three and a quarter.   
  
"I’m not slowing down. You’ll just have to keep up,” the boy shouts over his shoulder. He sticks out his tongue and laughs really hard.   
  
Because the boy has his head turned towards the little girl he doesn’t see the tree in front of him but the girl does. She opens her mouth to shout a warning, but she’s too late. The boy collides with the brown tree trunk and falls down with a huff.   
  
The girl would usually laugh when something like this happened, but this boy is special to her. She can’t laugh if he’s hurt.   
  
The little girl runs to her friend’s side and drops on her little knees. The dew stains her jeans where they touch the grass, but she doesn’t seem to feel the cold seeping through the fabric.   
  
“Are you alright?” the girl asks anxiously as the boy opens his eyes with a dazed look in them while he rubs his soar forehead. “Do you want me to kiss it better?”  
  
The red-haired girl doesn’t wait for the boy’s answer and presses her lips to the patch of skin just under his hazel curls. It’s only a fleeting kiss, but the girl blushes when she moves away.   
  
“That actually works,” says the boy in surprise when he feels his forehead throb less than before. He never knew kisses from girls had such qualities.   
  
Suddenly their names are called and both know that their mothers are looking for them. They’ve come to park together. The children live next to each other so they often go on trips to the forest together.   
  
“You have to get up. Mom and your mother are looking for us,’ the girl says hurriedly and when she sees he needs her help she holds out her hand which he gladly excepts.   
  
When the curly-haired boy is standing steady on two legs again, the girl lets go of his hand and with the grin returning to her face she runs away from her first love and towards her mother. The boy follows the girl, running just as fast and never losing sight of her bright red hair. Both of them didn’t know this would be the last time the two of them would play together. 


	2. 1

“Today was really great,” Danielle announces, a smile on her lips as she walks into the bedroom. She and her husband Kevin have just come back from Kevin brother’s birthday party. It had been a busy party with a lot of guests.   
  
“It was,"Kevin agrees. He has a matching smile on his face. It felt good catching up with his brothers. Even though Kevin is really happy in his marriage with Danielle he still sometimes misses hanging out with them. Kevin had always had a strong bond with his brothers and being in a band together brought them even closer. They spend all their waking hours together for so many years.   
  
Kevin puts his arm around his wife’s waist and pulls her closer. He kisses her on the cheek affectionately while she chuckles and throws an arm over his shoulder.   
  
"I liked seeing Shelby and Maddie again,” Danielle tells her husband, a sigh esaping between her lips while she and Kevin hug. Danielle loves being this close with her husband. When every inch of their skin is touching and he has his arms around her, it feels like nothing can hurt her. It feels like the safest place on earth.   
  
“I still can’t believe Shelby has graduated Cum Laude.” Kevin gives Danielle’s waist a final squeeze and lets go of her so he can prepare himself for bed. “Of course I always knew she was smart, don’t get me wrong. But Cum Laude…”   
  
“I understand what you mean,” Danielle says while she slips out of her dress. “Usually only nerds graduate Cum Laude and our Shelby is anything but a nerd.”  
  
“Precisely,” Kevin agrees, happy his wife understands. He walks into the bathroom to brush his teeth and his wife follows him inside.   
  
After they’re finished in the bathroom the couple slips into their bed and cuddle while they talk some more about the party. The room is almost completely dark but a sliver of moonlight filters into the room, illuminating the couple in an almost magical way.   
  
All too soon Danielle can feel her eyelids grow heavy and before she knows it she’s dozing off, the heat of her husband’s body and the softness of the sheets making her feel drowsy and safe.   
  
Danielle wakes up in the middle of the night with an itching throat, so she slips out of the bed and walks to the bedroom. After she has filled a glass with cold, refreshing water she takes a gulp and walks back to the bed with the glass still in her hands. For now one gulp is enough, but she might need more water later on.   
  
Danielle puts the glass on the nightstand and sits down on the bed. But before the brunette can slip back under the covers she hears Kevin mumble something. Danielle turns to her husband, expecting to see her husband’s eyes open. Kevin never talks in his sleep. But to her surprise Kevin’s eyes are still firmly shut, he seems to be vast asleep. Danielle, thinking she must have imagined it turns away again, but stops all movement when she hears her husband say a name. A name that is not hers.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Danielle wakes the next day with a nagging feeling in her stomach and in her heart a dull ache. The name that Kevin said last night is still running through her mind and she doesn’t know what to do with it. She doesn’t know what to do with the uneasiness she’s feeling.   
  
She doesn’t really understand why hearing Kevin say that name bothers her so much. There’s nothing wrong with her husband saying the name of his childhood friend in his sleep. There’s nothing wrong with Kevin dreaming about someone from his childhood.   
  
“Hey beautiful. Did you sleep well?” Kevin asks, smiling up at his wife as he opens his eyes. His smile makes Danielle feel fuzzy for a moment and her feelings of hurt begin to lessen a bit. Kevin’s smile has never failed to make her feel good.   
  
“I slept well. I did wake up in the middle of the night though.” The nagging feeling in Danielle’s stomach returns as she thinks about last night. Even though she hates feeling this way and she has no reason to feel hurt, the feeling is still there.   
  
“And while I was awake something very strange happened.” Danielle turns to Kevin with a smile, not wanting to alarm Kevin. “You talked in your sleep.”   
  
“That’s indeed weird,” Kevin says with a chuckle and looks at her confused. “Because I never talk in my sleep. Are you sure you heard me talk? Maybe you were halfasleep and you thought you heard me say something.”   
  
“Yes. I’m sure I heard you talk. I just came back from the bathroom. I was wide awake. You said Jolene’s name.” Danielle pays close attention to Kevin’s face, hoping his face gives something away about why Kevin was dreaming about his childhood friend. But the only look she gets is one of surprise.   
  
“Are you sure you heard it right, babe? Because I didn’t dream about Jolene last night. I haven’t dreamed about her ever since I was a little boy.”   
  
Danielle stomach snaps into a knot as she hears her husband’s words. Why is he denying he dreamed about Jolene? Why is he lying to her?  
  
Danielle can feel doubt, she thought she would never feel, settle in her heart and stomach. It must be something bad for Kevin to lie to her. Something bad that would break her heart if she would come to know them. When she married Kevin she could have never imagined she would ever find herself in this kind of situation.   
  
But here she is, with a husband who dreams of a girl from his childhood and who lies about it. 


	3. 2

Danielle is looking at the candle in front of her, the flame slowly dying out as there's nothing left to burn. The brunette's eyelids blink slowly as she feels the sadness in her heart spread to her throat and her eyes, the latter filling up with tears.   
  
Danielle and Kevin were supposed to have dinner together tonight. Kevin was supposed to drive home after finishing up in the studio and he was supposed to bring flowers with him. That was their anniversary tradition. But for some reason Kevin has decided to walk back home instead and because he decided to take the long way home he was too late for dinner.   
  
Danielle wipes a tear from her cheek as she tries to pull herself together. She probably just over reacting. Kevin has probably a good reason for wanting to walk back home, even though his brothers didn't know that reason. It is not as if the brothers share every thought with each other. She just has to trust him.   
  
The brunette stands up from the wooden chair with a sigh and begins to clean the dining table. At times like this the young woman hates the fact that Kevin and she still don't have children. If they had, she would have something to distract her until Kevin comes home.   
  
When Danielle is halfway through cleaning the dishes, she receives a text saying 'I'll be home in a few seconds.' It's not the first one Kevin send her. Danielle has been receiving a text every ten minutes, probably because he doesn't want her to worry either about him getting hurt or about him not thinking about her. Or maybe he's with someone else and he's sending her these messages because he doesn't want her to get suspicious.   
  
Danielle almost immediately shakes that thought from her head. Why would she think Kevin is being unfaithful? She has no reason to be suspicious. She really doesn't understand why ever since she has heard Kevin say Jolene's name last night she has been so paranoid. She really doesn't understand why she's making such a big deal out of it.   
  
"Don't lie. You know why," a nasty voice says in the back of her head. "Have you forgotten how he said her name?"   
  
Danielle grabs the counter tightly as she remembers how Kevin's voice had sounded when he said Jolene's name. He had said it with so much love in his voice. Her heart breaks just thinking about it. Kevin used to say her name with that same amount of love.   
  
When she hears a key turn in the front door Danielle quickly shakes her head to force the sadness out of it. She doesn't want Kevin to see her sad. She doesn't want the emotions she's showing influence Kevin's explanation.   
  
"Hey babe. I hope you didn't wait up for me," Kevin says as he walks into the living room with an apologetic smile on his face.   
  
"I'm afraid I did," Danielle says with a sarcastic smile, letting her emotions slip through her neutral façade and it causes Kevin to freeze in his step. "I even I cooked for you, decorated the table and even waited with eating until I got the message that you were going to walk home."  
  
Danielle's anger is getting the best of her as she comes to the conclusion that Kevin has forgotten their anniversary. The brunette is happy with the anger that she's feeling, because it numbs the pain she's feeling even if only for a moment.   
  
"What were you thinking, walking six miles when you have a perfectly good car," Danielle is walking towards her husband with her eyes narrowed and her nails digging into the palms of her hands.   
  
"I just felt like walking," Kevin says with shrug, acting casual but he still takes a step back. "I needed the fresh air after being stuck in the studio for five hours straight."  
  
"I understand that, but walking six miles!" Danielle says, the volume of her voice rising even higher as she throws her hands up in an gesture of frustration.   
  
"I don't really understand what the problem is here," Kevin voice has a defensive edge to it and he narrows his eyes."I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I wanted to walk back home sooner, even though I texted you the moment I decided to walk home, and I'm sorry that you did all these things for me for nothing. But there's nothing I can do about that now."  
  
Danielle fights back the tears as she's slowly dying inside. She just knows Kevin has been lying about walking back from the studio, he doesn't look like someone who has just walked six miles. His feet should be hurting from walking such a distance but the way Kevin is standing in front of her Danielle can see they're just fine.   
  
And then there's the reason he gave her why he supposedly wanted take that long walk. No sane person goes on a six miles stroll to get fresh air. That's just insane.   
  
"I'm going upstairs," Kevin tells his wife with a sigh as he runs a hand through his curls, making it clear to Danielle that Kevin doesn't want them to fight anymore. The brunette hates that she isn't sure if that's a good sign or a bad one. She hates that she thinks about the possibly that Kevin doesn't want to fight because it may make her suspicious. "I'll be waiting for you in our bed."  
  
Before Danielle can say anything back Kevin walks out of the living room and up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.   
  
Danielle is left alone in the living room, tears running down her cheeks and she does nothing to stop them. She never knew she could feel so much pain. She finally knows what people mean when they talk about a heart being trampled on.


	4. 3

Danielle is staring out of the window. Outside it´s still dark and quite, except for the crickets who are chirping loudly in the garden. The brunette is familiar with the sound, having grown-up on a farm where she would fall asleep to these sounds. It has always calmed her down and this time it’s no different.  
  
She’s calm inside, but there’s sorrow in her heart. An emotion she hates feeling, but one she seems to be unable to chase away. She can’t stop a coldness from seeping through her heart, slowly but steadily.  
  
It has been two weeks since Kevin had forgotten their anniversary. He had apologized immediately after he had woken up the next day. He had told her that he had forgotten it because he had been so busy.  
  
Danielle’s heart constricts when she thinks back to that moment. He had looked so sincere but his excuse had been so lame. She had been torn between listing to her heart and listening to her sense. The young woman had decided to listen to her heart, but now she regrets she did.  
  
Danielle touches the cold glass of the window with her hand as if she wants to be sure this isn’t some awful nightmare by feeling the cold seep through her skin.  
  
The young woman has just come out of the bedroom she shares with Kevin and she’s dreading going in there again. She had woken to Kevin tossing and turning and when Danielle had touched him to calm him down he had said Jolene’s name again. But this time his voice had been laced with pain and desperation.  
  
Tears start to trickle down her cold cheeks and her heart breaks a little bit more as she thinks back to what he had said. He had told Jolene that he didn’t want to leave her yet. That he knew he had no other choice, but he wasn’t ready yet.  
  
She couldn’t stand being in the bedroom any longer, so Danielle had gone to the living room. She had stopped in the middle of the room, thoughts running rampant in her head until she couldn’t stand it any longer and she had walked up to the window she is now standing in front of and had laid her head against the glass of the windowpane in the hope the cold would calm her thoughts down.  
  
With a sigh Danielle drops her hands and runs them through her hair in the hope that for a moment it will make her heart stop trembling with sadness. It isn’t really working.  
  
The brunette sits down on the couch that’s standing nearby and puts her head in her hands. If only she could make herself relax, stop herself from worrying. She won’t be able to sleep when she’s in such a state and she really needs her sleep.  
  
Her predicament causes her thoughts to go back to the times when she hadn’t been able to sleep when she was little and she suddenly remembers her mother used to make her tea when she had woken in the middle of the night.  
  
Reluctantly Danielle stands up from the couch and walks to the kitchen to make tea, as quietly as possible. But her body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate because she starts to tremble and drops the tea cup.  
  
The sound of the cup shattering into a million pieces echoes through the whole house and makes the brunette winch. There’s no way her husband didn’t hear a noise that loud.  
  
She’s proven right when Kevin comes running into the kitchen, his hair disheveled from the tossing he has done in the bed and a scared look on his face.  
  
“Danni, are you alright? What happened?” Kevin asks as he rushes to Danielle’s side. “Why are you trembling?”  
  
Danielle isn’t really sure if she wants to fight it when he husband puts his arms around her and pulls her close to him. It makes her feel saved and loved, but at the same time it makes the thoughts inside her head run wild again.  
  
“I had a nightmare,"&#157; Danielle lies with a trembling voice and she sags into her husband’s chest. She feels so tired, she doesn’t want to fight the pain she’s feeling anymore. She just lets the tears fall.


	5. 4

The birds are greeting the first day of spring with their cheerful chirping while they bath in the sunshine that slowly warms their little bodies.  
  
Danielle used to be cheerful on this day, the day that the sun shone a little bit warmer and signaled the end of the cold winter. She used to walk around outside in the crisp, warm morning air. She used to relish the soft spring breeze blowing through her hair and sun shining on her face.  
  
But this year not even the sun filtering through the glass window can cheer the brunette up. Not even the sight of the birds fluttering around outside can make her heart flutter with spring jitters like it used to.  
  
While the world outside is celebrating the coming of spring Danielle is sitting inside the house with doubt and an unsettling fear gnawing away at her.  
  
Her heart constricts when she thinks back to last night. She had fallen asleep in her husband´s arms after Danielle had finally stopped crying and they had picked up the fallen pieces of the broken tea cup.  
  
Kevin had been so loving and careful with her, as if she was made of porcelain and it had torn her up inside even more. When he was kind to her he was once again the old Kevin she knew, but then he would forget something like their anniversary and he changed back into a stranger. It made her feel so confused.  
  
And that is why she had called Shelby to help her out. Danielle needs someone to share her fears with and advise her on what to do. And Joe’s girlfriend is just the right person for the job.  
  
Shelby won’t judge Danielle for thinking Kevin is cheating on her, she’s someone who listen to what you have to say but stays level-headed.  
  
Suddenly the doorbell rings and Danielle jumps from the couch to open the door. Her bare feet make a noise that sounds loud in the empty house as she makes her way to the door.  
  
With a deep sigh Danielle opens the door and gives the blond standing in front of the door her best smile. She has a feeling the smile probably reveals that there’s something wrong and when a frown appears on Shelby’s face instead of a smile it appears she is right.  
  
“Danni, what’s wrong?” Shelby asks with concern evident in her voice and her eyes. It’s once more clear that Shelby really cares about her.  
  
Shelby has been dating Joe for two years now and her and Danielle have been friends almost just as long. They had clicked the moment they met and have only grown closer over the years. It’s such a shame they don’t see each other more often.  
  
“I think you better come in first,” Danielle says and she steps aside so the other woman can enter.  
  
Shelby walks inside and because Shelby isn’t wearing a coat both women walk straight to the couch. Danielle sits down on the couch and almost immediately the blond grabs both her hands and squeezes them in a reassuring gesture.  
  
“Now sweetie, tell me what’s wrong,” Shelby says as she turns her whole body towards the older woman.  
  
“I think Kevin is cheating on me,” Danielle blurts out.  
  
When Shelby doesn’t immediately react, the brunette carefully looks up and she sees a look of pure shock on the blonde’s face. It is as if she’s slapped in the face.  
  
“You probably think I’m stupid for even thinking Kevin is cheating, believe me, I’ve thought so to for a while,” when she says the last part the bitterness she feels his heard clearly in her voice. “But I have my reasons to believe he is."   
  
Danielle then continues to tell Shelby about Kevin talking in his sleep and his odd behavior during the day. Shelby, who has recovered from the shock, listens to the story without interrupting.  
  
When Danielle is finished talking Shelby takes her into her arms and softly whispers into her ear "I’m so sorry you had to go through that all by yourself.”  
  
It is then that Danielle lets go and finally lets the steady stream of tears she has been holding in for such a long time run down her cheeks. All Shelby does is rock her back and forth and whispers to her that everything is going to be okay. And for now, that’s enough for Danielle.


	6. 5

Danielle can feel nerves tighten her throat as she walks into the building. She isn’t nervous because of where she is but because of what she’s about to hear. Today she’s going to get an answer to the question she has been asking herself for the last two weeks  
  
The brunette is in full disguise, with a wig and colored lenses, but she still hadn’t been able keep herself from feeling paranoid when she’d made her way to the agency. She’d been cconvinced that people looking at her recognized her even though they probably stared at her because she was walking so hurriedly.  
  
As she stalks into the lobby of the agency she tries her best not to draw attention to herself. She could see the headlines in her head `Jonas wife meeting with private detective. Trouble in paradise?

It had been Shelby’s idea. The blonde had told Danielle that even though she didn’t think Kevin was cheating on her - he loves her too much to hurt her like that- but if she really wanted to know the truth she could hire a private detective. And this is exactly what Danielle has done.  
  
Danielle quickly walks to the front desk and asks “Hey, my name is Molly Jones. I had an appointment with Detective Nolen.”  
  
Due to privacy reasons Danielle had made an appointment under an alias and had only revealed her real name to the detective when she promised her client complete secrecy.  
  
After the blond behind the desk has given Danielle instructions to get to Miss. Nolen’s room she steps into the elevator and heads to the fifth floor.  
  
Kevin doesn’t know his wife isn’t at home. He’s busy working with his brothers on their next album and he won’t be home until late. Danielle has been having dinner by herself every day for the past week, today won’t be any different.  
  
With a sigh Danielle runs her hand through her hair as she thinks about how empty the house is when Kevin isn’t home. She’s used to a full house, having grown up with a lot of siblings. It’s true Danielle has friends, but these friends have lives of their own and she can’t just call them whenever she feels lonely.  
  
Danielle is shaken from her thoughts as the ping of the elevator signals she has arrived at her destination. With slightly shaking legs the brunette walks out of the elevator and walks into the hallway, in search for the door with the 156 on it.  
  
When she has found it she takes a deep breath to calm her nerves a bit and knocks on the door before entering.  
  
The brunette behind the desk gives her a smile and says, “Good morning Mrs. Jonas. I’m glad you could make it.”  
  
It isn’t the first time the detective has seen Danielle in the disguise she’s currently in. The young woman had been in the same disguise when she had come to the detective to hire her services.  
  
Danielle sits down on one of the chairs in front of the desk and looks at the woman in front of her with both anxious as hesitant eyes. She wants to know what the detective has found but at the same time she doesn’t. She hates the doubt that has been eating her up inside but at the same time she’s afraid of what the detective will tell her.  
  
“I called you here to tell you, you have nothing to worry about Mrs. Jonas," the detective says with a smile and she looks at Danielle with kind eyes. "I have followed your husband and I haven’t caught him with other women. The whole week I followed him he has only been in the company of his brothers or has been on his own.”  
  
A huge relieve washes over Danielle at this information. Kevin hasn’t been seen with other women, which means he isn’t cheating on her. She’s the only women in his life.  
  
But suddenly a voice at the back of her head says ‘But why is he acting so strange then? Maybe Jolene is just out of town this week. Maybe that’s why the detective didn’t see her.';  
  
Even though Danielle hates to agree with this dark voice she has to admit that its reasoning makes sense. It is a possibility.  
  
“Thank you for everything," Danielle says quickly. She can no longer stand to be in this room. She needs to be alone with her thoughts and feelings.  
  
"You can expect your my check in two days,” Danielle says hurriedly as she quickly stands of from the chair and walks to the door in quick strides. Before detective Nolen can say anything the conflicted wife has left her office.


	7. 6

With a sigh Danielle shuts off the engine and looks into the rearview mirror at all the bags that are laying on the backseat. She has been shopping to forget about her worries for a few hours and she has bought a lot of stuff.  
  
Most of it are clothes; there are two dresses, a red and a black one, a pair of jeans and three blouses; but there are also four pairs of shoes and two bags.  
  
Danielle has done a lot of shopping and she _did_ forget about her problems for a while, but they’re coming back full force. The feeling that something is wrong is rearing its ugly head once again.  
  
When the young woman had come back from the detective agency she had carefully thought about what the detective had told her and had decided to not listen to the dark voice and just trust her husband.  
  
And she had been able to do so until later that day. She had though that Kevin had been in the studio with his brothers all day until her brother-in-law had called their house and told her to tell his brother that he and Joe were really mad at him for cancelling on them last minute.  
  
Danielle had been too dumbfounded to ask Nick any questions and just told him she would do so.  
  
When Kevin had come back he had told her how he had such a fantastic day at the studio and how well the album was coming along. Danielle never felt so hurt and betrayed. Having a feeling your husband is lying to you is painful enough, but knowing for a fact that he’s indeed not telling you the truth hurts even more.  
  
But she had felt scared too. Scared of the reason why he was lying to her. And because she was scared she didn’t confront Kevin, instead she told him that Nick had called and that he was mad at him for some reason.  
  
Danielle has a lump in her throat at the memories and she lays her head on the steering wheel while she fights the tears threatening to fall.  
  
When she has composed herself again the brunette straightens her back and looks in the rearview mirror to see if people can see she has cried a little. When she’s sure her misery isn’t visible on her face she steps out of the car. She grabs two bags from the backseat and walks towards the house.  
  
Her heart aches when she sees her husband sitting on the couch through the window. The brothers have taken a day off and Kevin had told Danielle he wanted to spend that day with his wife.  
  
Danielle has mixed feelings about today. On the one hand she’s really happy that Kevin wants to spend his freetime with her but on the other hand she has to be around the man who has hurt her really bad yesterday. And maybe he wants to spend time with her because he feels guilty. Guilty because he was with Jolene yesterday.  
  
She had decided on the way back home that it was better for her to only spend part of today with Kevin. She knows she won’t be able to be in the same room as her husband for more then two hours without bursting into tears. So she had called Kevin and had told him she forgot that she and her friends already had plans tonight, so she couldn’t have dinner with him.  
  
Suddenly Danielle stops dead in her track as suddenly a beautiful woman with red hair appears in front of the window. The woman moves breathtakingly graceful when she walks up to Kevin and lays her white, elegant hands on his shoulder.  
  
Danielle’s sadness is now replaced by white-hot anger. How could Kevin? How could he invite over his mistress when he had told her he wanted to spend his free time with her?  
  
Danielle is no longer afraid of the consequences of confronting Kevin, everything is overridden by the anger coursing through her veins.  
  
She walks to the door, the bags in her hands swinging wildly, and when she has reached the door she throws it open before rushing straight to the living room.  
  
“Caught you,” Danielle yells angrily as she walks into the living room, expecting to see Jolene standing behind Kevin with her hands on his shoulders and her mouth to his ear.  
  
Instead she finds only Kevin sitting on the couch with a surprised look on his face.  
  
“You caught me doing what?”


	8. 7

Heather’s brown hair flows behind her as she takes a few steps to the side and her blue eyes watch the brown-haired boy for a reaction. She hopes she has salvaged the situation created by her colleague.  
  
The boy looks at the brown-haired girl who has just yelled at him. Yelled at him that she had caught him doing something he isn’t supposed to do.  
  
Heather had sensed that the girl’s first reaction would be to search the room, so she had whispered in her ear that it was best to stay right where she was and try to come up with an excuse why she’s so angry.  
  
The brunette hates to make the girl lie to her husband, but she doesn’t want them to fight either, knowing that fighting would do more harm then good. She may be able to convince her protege that the flash of red hair she saw was her imagination getting the better of her.  
  
“I thought I saw you sit with your feet on the table,” the girl says as her face is red with embarrassment.  
  
“I don’t put my feet on the table anymore," the boy says with a raised eyebrow and Heather can see he isn’t sure if he should believe his wife or not.  
  
"I know, I’m sorry," the girl says and she tries to smile at her husband. Heather can both sense and see that this hurts her.  
  
"I’ll just grab the bags I have left in the car," the girl continues as she points behind her with her thumb and before her husband can say anything else she walks out of the room.  
  
Heather’s wings flutter when she follows the girl and she softly lays her white, delicate hand on the brunette’s shoulder. Her protege relaxes under the angel; s touch but Heather is unable to stop the tears from spilling from the brunette’s eyes.  
  
She really hates to see Danielle in so much pain and if angels were able to feel anger she would be angry at her fellow angel causing her this pain.  
  
The brown-haired angel had felt so happy when she got Danielle assigned to her. From the first time her blue eyes had fallen on the beautiful baby laying in her mother’s arms she knew Danielle would grow-up to be a special and kind woman.  
  
She had looked out for Danielle when her brothers chased her and almost caused her to take a fall that would surely have broken her spine.  
  
She had been there to safe Danielle when she stood to close to the fireworks during 4th of July. She had been there to whisper into her tanned ear that she should take four steps back.  
  
She had saved Danielle so many times and Heather had grown fond of the brunette with her gentle eyes and even more gentle personality.  
  
And it’s only because of this reason that she hasn’t gone to the head angel yet. Knowing how harsh Kyley could sometimes be. Heather of course knows the head angle has to be and that’s why Heather is not telling her anything.  
  
Heather knows where Jolene is coming from and why she’s doing this. She has looked after Kevin for such a long time, ever since she died four years ago and what doesn’t help either is that Jolene and Kevin used to be friends when they were little children.  
  
Maybe she would do the same thing as Jolene had she been in her shoes, so to speak. Maybe she would have chosen the same path as the redheaded friend if she would have faced the same dilemma.  
  
Heather almost flickers into visibility as she tries to imagine standing in front of the same fork in the road that Jolene is now facing, but she stops her form from becoming solid and visible just in time. She can’t believe the same thing that happened to Jolene almost happened to her.


	9. 8

Danielle is watching TV but the drama unfolding in front of her on the screen can’t seem to keep her attention. The drama on the screen is in no comparison to the drama in her own life. So what if the boy the main girl likes doesn’t like her, he’s at least not cheating on her.  
  
It has been a week since she stormed in on what she thought was her husband’s date with his mistress but said mistress was nowhere to be found. It had left the young woman even more confused than she was, to begin with.  
  
Danielle had been keeping an eye on Kevin whenever she could without being too suspicious. And she hadn’t been able to catch him acting weird or suspicious and while that should have been a relief to her it scares her instead. Because it would mean she’s seeing things, that she’s going crazy.  
  
Danielle had tried to forget about her problems again by visiting Maddie, but it didn’t help to lift her spirits so she went home early.  
  
With a sigh, Danielle switches off the TV and stands up from the couch. She begins to pace as thoughts are running rampant in her head. Half of them are about the possibility of Kevin cheating on her, and the other half are about the possibility of her going crazy.  
  
After she has almost paced a hole in the ground and a head-splitting headache is letting itself know she walks to the kitchen and fills a glass with water and pops a paracetamol into it. After she has swallowed the little pill with the water she walks back into the living room.  
  
When Danielle looks out of the window as she walks back to the couch she lets out a gasp of surprise. Kevin is walking towards the door, a bit earlier then he said he would be home, but that’s not what has caused the brunette to gasp. It is the woman walking behind him. She looks beautiful with her ivory skin and flaming locks of auburn hair. Her eyes are an emerald green and are the most beautiful eyes Danielle has ever seen. Kevin has told enough about her for Danielle to know this is Jolene.  
  
A rage that burns like a poison makes its way through her body and her whole body goes rigid while her head begins to pound even more severely than before. It’s now very clear to her she is not seeing things and that Kevin is in fact cheating on her.  
  
Tears begin to make their way down her tanned cheek as she fumes over the fact that Kevin has the nerve to take his mistress to their home. The home Danielle has been excited to spend the rest of their lives living in and couldn’t wait to fill with laughing children.  
  
Danielle is nailed to the ground with rage and sadness as Kevin walks up to the door with Jolene in tow. In only a few seconds Kevin will come into the house and he’ll be surprised to see her. He, of course, would conceal it as a happy surprise but Danielle wouldn’t be fooled. She would tell him just what she thought about him cheating on her.  
  
The sound of the key turning in the lock sounds much louder in Danielle’s ears than normal and she braces herself for the confrontation and for meeting the other woman face to face for the first time. The brunette wonders if the redhead is the kind of other woman who acts like she likes the wife or if she’s the kind of woman who doesn'tbother hiding her contempt.  
  
Danielle slowly turns towards the door as she hears the door open and she’s confused when Kevin closes the door after he has entered the house. Has he seen her or something and is Jolene now standing outside?  
  
She’s even more confused when Kevin actually looks surprised to see her. If he did leave Jolene outside because his wife was in the living room he wouldn’t be so surprised to see her waiting for him.  
  
“Danielle, honey. You’re home early," Kevin smiles and the smile brings the rage back to Danielle. How dare he smile when he just brought his mistress home.  
  
"Where is she?” Danielle says through clinched teeth and she glares daggers at Kevin.  
  
The smile immediately disappears from the young man’s face and he asks with a frown on his face and a surprised voice, “What woman?”  
  
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Danielle says angrily and she balls her hands into fists. “I’m talking about that redhead walking behind you just a few seconds ago." Danielle doesn’t like calling the other woman by her name.  
  
"Honey, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” There is now concern laced with surprise in his voice. “There was no woman walking behind me.”  
  
“Oh, yes there was," Danielle snaps at him before stalking to the front door with angry steps. She throws open the door and freezes on the threshold. There is no redhead standing anywhere near the door and when she looks for a woman skulking behind a bush or behind something else she doesn’t find anything either. It seems like Jolene has disappeared into thin air.


	10. 9

Jolene knows she’s in trouble the minute she hears the ringing in her ears. Normally she doesn’t dread the call back to heaven, but that is because she normally doesn’t break the rules.

If she wasn’t an angel she would have sighed as she closes her eyes and concentrates on the part of heaven where the guardian angels gather to receive instructions from the head guardian angel.

The head angel for the group of angels the red-haired angel belongs to has been the same for over forty years. There is no career ladder for angels, the kind of angel you become depends on the way you lived your life, but there is horizontal movement. The head angels rotate between the groups.

Kyley has always been a fierce defender of rules, were other head angels would have let some things slide Kyley makes no exceptions. Not that what Jolene has been doing for the past few weeks is an occasion where some head angels would punish lightly because of the circumstances. No, no angel would be light on her if they discover what she has been doing.

It has been only because of Heather’s discretion that the young angel has been able to do what she has been doing for so long. Only because her fellow angel had the kindness to lie for her, she has been able to get away with it for so long. But Jolene has a feeling it’s game over for her now. Somehow Kyley has found it.

When the redhead opens her eyes, the bright white lights tell her she has made it to heaven. Jolene can still remember how the brightness of the light had shocked her the first time she had come to this place. Of course, she had heard from people who had had a near-death experience about the brightness of heaven but hearing about the brightness and experiencing it are two different things.

The young angel’s wings flutter a little with anxiety as she walks to the tree under which the head guardian angel is waiting. Even though the angel’s body language doesn’t give anything away the blue eyes tell Jolene she’s in trouble.

Jolene tries to look dignified by walking straight but on the inside, she knows she’s done for. For some reason, Kyley has found out her secret and even though she hates to admit it she had known the mission she had put herself on was doomed to fail. She knew that eventually, they would found out, no matter how discrete Jolene and Heather were.

When the redhead has made it to the head angel and has given her a nod of the head and a smile, Kyley finally speaks.

“I think you know why I’m here,” Kyley says curtly, but to Jolene’s surprise, there is no disapproval in her voice, only disappointment. It is as if Kyley had expected Jolene to do what she has done, but is sorry that she has been proven right.

“I think I have an idea,"&#157; Jolene says and she tries to hide the discomfort she’s feeling. As well as the sadness for that matter.

"I understand it’s hard for you, but you know it’s inevitable, right?” Kyley says with her stormy blue eyes trained on the angel in front of her.

Even though Jolene can see genuine pity and understanding in the older angel’s eyes it doesn’t stop something from snapping inside of her.

“Don’t you dare tell me you understand how I feel,"&#157; the redhead yells and the angel in front of her takes a few steps back. She isn’t used to Jolene yelling at her.

"You have been too long up here and away from humans to feel anything close to human emotions. All you care about now are the stupid rules. Rules that tell me to watch my childhood friend die after protecting him for over two years. Don’t you dare tell me you know how I feel.”

And for the second time since she came to heaven, Jolene cries.


	11. 10

“Danielle, there is no woman. Nobody followed me home” Kevin says and there is a sense of urgency in his voice as if he’s begging her to believe him.  
  
“I saw her” Danielle yells back while she stands in front of Kevin with balled fists and tears streaks on her cheeks. She is no longer trying to hide her feelings, she wants to show her husband just how betrayed she feels.  
  
“You must have seen it wrong,” Kevin says in exasperation. “You saw it yourself. You saw no woman when you looked outside.”  
  
“That doesn’t mean anything” the brunette spits back and the tears start to fall again. Tears that are shed in both sorrow and anger.  
  
“Honey, please,” Kevin says with a pain filled voice as he takes a hesitant step forward. “Please don’t think I’m cheating on you.”  
  
“Why wouldn’t I,” Danielle says with venom in her voice as the anger overrides the heartache that she feels. “All the signs are there. Don’t you dare deny them.”  
  
“What signs?” Kevin asks with a so much surprise in his voice that makes Danielle almost believe he really doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Almost.  
  
“You forget our anniversary,” Danielle says holding up one finger as she begins to count. Her whole body is shaking as the rage and hurt she’s feeling are battling for dominance. “You lie about where you are going. You’re coming home at odd hours and you say someone else’s name in your sleep.”  
  
When the young woman is done with summing up all the reasons why she has been in such a dark place over these past two weeks she can feel all the rage slip from her body and all that is left is the heartbreak. The heartbreak that brings her literarily brings her to her knees.  
  
Kevin is at her side at once and envelops her into a huge, Danielle too weak to fight him. Her heart breaks into even smaller pieces as she feels her body react to the warmth of his arms and chest and Danielle realizes she still loves him and will always love him even if he is cheating on her.  
  
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry” Kevin keeps repeating into her hair as he rocks her back and forth. “I’m sorry for doing those things. I’m so sorry it made you think I was cheating on you.”  
  
“Why are you still denying it?” Danielle asks between sobs as she clutches her husband’s shirt desperately.  
  
“Because it isn’t true, ” a soft voice says.  
  
It’s unlike any voice Danielle has ever heard before. It is soft but clear at the same time. It has a melody-like quality to it. It sounds like wind chimes that have been set in motion by a soft summer breeze.  
  
It soothes her aching heart and her body stops trembling and soaks in the warmth coming from her husband’s body.  
  
Kevin is the first to turn towards the sound of the voice and Danielle can hear him suck in a breath before saying, as if he can’t believe his eyes. “Jolene?”  
  
The ragged edges of her shattered heart begin to ache again as the brunette snaps her head up to look at the place her husband is staring.  
  
But what she sees isn’t something she expected to see, because what Kevin is staring at isn’t a normal girl with red hair, green eyes and a porcelain skin, but at an angel with red hair, green eyes, a porcelain skin and white wings.  
  
“Jolene, is that really you?” Kevin asks as he stands up from his kneeling position with shaky legs.  
  
“Yes, it’s me, Kevin,” the angel says as a smile graces her lips that literally lights up the room.  
  
“What happened to you?” Kevin asks even though the answer is obvious, but seeing your childhood friend as an angel can cause you to asks redundant questions, Danielle guesses. She herself is shocked into silence. She’s in awe that she has an angel in her living room.  
  
“I died Kevin, and I’ve been your guardian angel for more than two years.”


	12. 11

There are a million questions running through Danielle’s head as she slowly recovers from the shock but only one question comes out “Why are you here?”  
  
The angel turns her head towards Danielle and the smile she sends her causes a warmth to spread through Danielle’s body. “I’m here to explain.”  
  
“Explain what?” Kevin asks confused.  
  
“Explain why your wife thinks you’re cheating on her” the angels says with what sounds like an apologetic tone. Danielle never knew angels could feel regret.  
  
“I don’t understand…”  
  
“Danielle was able to see me a couple of times and that’s one of the reasons she thought you cheated on her.”  
  
Jolene walks towards Danielle with feet that don’t touch the ground and she softly touches the brunette’s shoulder. The touch of Jolene’s hand is as light as a feather and as warm as a warm summer sun in July.  
  
“I’m so sorry for putting you through this” Jolene says and when Danielle looks up she can see the remorse shiny through in the spring green eyes. “You were never supposed to find out.”  
  
“How was I able to see you?” Danielle asks while she tries to stand up from where she’s kneeling. Jolene, seeing that the young woman doesn’t have the strength to get up on her own, takes her hand and with no effort pulls Danielle to her feet.  
  
As soon as she’s back on her feet Kevin sneaks an arm around her waist and Danielle immediately leans into him, wanting to be as close as possible to her husband. Being close to Kevin makes her feel less exposed and confused.  
  
“You were able to see me because I lost control. Angels need to control their mass to stay invisible and when they get upset they lose that control.”  
  
“We also become visible if we want to be seen” another voice that has the same attributes as Jolene’s suddenly says and to Danielle’s astonishment another angel shimmers into existence.  
  
This angel has like Jolene an ivory skin tone, but unlike Jolene she has brown hair and blue eyes. But what strikes Danielle the most is the purple instead of white wings she has. The surprised woman didn’t know angels with purple feathers existed.  
  
“Hey Danielle.” The new angel says with a smile. “I’m Heather and I’m your guardian angel.”  
  
“Why did you appear in Kevin’s dream?” Danielle says hurriedly. She knows she’s being rude by not returning her guardian angel’s greeting but she is far too eager to find out once and for all what’s going on.  
  
The smile disappears from Jolene’s face at the question and the angel says “I appeared in Kevin’s dream to warn him. I told him not to take the bus to the studio the day he walked back. I told him not to go to the studio the day that Nick called you to tell you he was mad at Kevin for canceling on him and Joe. He didn’t remember the dreamswhere I appeared in but he did remember my warnings. I told him these warnings because if he did take the bus or go to the studio that day he would have died.”  
  
Danielle’s heart stops beating at the last part and Kevin tenses next to her. From all the things the angel could have told her she didn’t expect it to be this.  
  
“Kevin has been on the list of people that are supposed to die for weeks and during those weeks I have tried to protect him so he won’t die, but I have been found out. And because of this I’m not able to protect you anymore. In a few days you’ll die.”


End file.
